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5 Seriality

  • Daniel Stein und Lukas Etter
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Abstract

At first sight, digital serial comics seem to challenge our understanding of serial comics based on analog materials. Yet upon closer inspection, many elements - such as the dialectics of order and chaos, or predetermination and arbitrariness, which accompanies the classic distinction between the series and the serial - have remained surprisingly consistent. This article develops the metaphor of the archive as a means of unraveling the serial specificities of comics (mainly superhero comic books and newspaper strips). Revisiting the series-vs.-serial distinction and differentiating among (dis)organized archives, excessive archives, and archival impulses allows for a conception of serial comics as crucial agents of cultural (re)production. These comics may tend toward the subversive and anarchic just as easily as they may favor a more pessimistic outlook: forms of escapism that cement the political status quo.

Abstract

At first sight, digital serial comics seem to challenge our understanding of serial comics based on analog materials. Yet upon closer inspection, many elements - such as the dialectics of order and chaos, or predetermination and arbitrariness, which accompanies the classic distinction between the series and the serial - have remained surprisingly consistent. This article develops the metaphor of the archive as a means of unraveling the serial specificities of comics (mainly superhero comic books and newspaper strips). Revisiting the series-vs.-serial distinction and differentiating among (dis)organized archives, excessive archives, and archival impulses allows for a conception of serial comics as crucial agents of cultural (re)production. These comics may tend toward the subversive and anarchic just as easily as they may favor a more pessimistic outlook: forms of escapism that cement the political status quo.

Heruntergeladen am 9.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110446968-006/html
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